Doc

Speaking of "Number 2", that is another that sits right near the top of my list of pet peeves. Why is it that when I finally arrive at my stand in the morning, thee ugly gurgling sounds start in my gut announcing that sure enough a trip off into the woods is imminent?

And of course we have to wonder why if a doe-only restriction is the plan that will be the salvation of deer management, how come it is not a part of the more effective harvesting season that they have to work with ...... The regular gun season. Oh I know. The level of heat that they would have to absorb from harassing gun hunters like that would be hard to handle, but the more minority seasons are easier to steamroll over. Yeah it may not be anywhere as effective as applying it to regular gun season, but it is a whole lot politically easier to jam down the throats of bowhunters and muzzleloaders than trying to deal with the larger majority of deer hunters.

I really don't want to be on one of these CTFs. What I want is for the DEC to do the job we pay them for and make the educated decisions that they are responsible for making. If they want to canvass all the various lobbying groups, fine. But the bottom line is that they are the trained and educated game managers and biologists. Make use of that damn expensive education and keep all the opinion mongers and special interest people away from game management targets and decisions.

Ha-ha-ha ..... great list and needs to be expanded. One of my pet peeves is the obligatory story told by my wife of all the deer feeding in our yard while I was hunting about 2 hours away at the top of our hill. The damned deer know the instant I am out of sight heading up the hill. Sure, you say, why don't you hunt down below around your yard. The answer is simple. When I do that nothing shows up, but my brother-in-law always stops by on his way out telling me that I should have been up on the hill in my stand when all the deer were milling around it. ....... If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all .... lol.

Frankly, my favorites were the Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Zorro, and other westerns of that era where you never saw a drop of blood. In fact most of these guys were noted "hand-shooters" that shot the gun out of the bad-guys hand, or they would leave their gun holstered and take their chances with a fist fight (which they always won) .... lol. Realism and fact based portrayal? .... not hardly, but always great messages of good triumphing over evil. But then we got all sophisticated and decided that it's the gore and gruesome images that had to be viewed in order to be "entertaining". So today I saw the movie "The Gunman" that was just dripping with blood and gore. We had guys being ripped apart with knives, and another graphic portrayal of the back of a guy's head coming off. and a whole bunch of other carnage that was up close and personal, displayed on the screen. Actually kind of typical of today's gunplay flicks. The only "entertainment" programs that are even more graphic are the jillions of C.S.I. shows that now flood the airwaves. Love those compulsory autopsy table scenes that have the corpse disemboweled with the chest cavity jacked open to get that perfect camera shot. Or the decomposed slurry of rotted human remains that are pored out and hand sorted through at the crime labs. And then the Coroner wandering around with a tray full of human organs. That is what is required to keep us entertained today. Each program trying to out-gross the one before it. And how about all those TV programs like "Criminal Minds" that highlight the details of demented human torture scenes, with each one trying to shock us more with new ways to torture people to death. Aren't those special, and all in the name of entertainment. And then we all sit around confused about the idea that there are more and more kids with absolutely no value of human life and suffering. I wonder where they get such attitudes from? I guess we're just too "sophisticated" to go back to the "hand shooters" ....eh?

You can attach any story to any gun that you want to dream up. There is no requirement that any of it has any truth involved. Shame on those customers (who may have been as fake as the gun store) for being so gullible as to believe a yarn spun by the supposed clerk.

I'm not sure about the exact connection between browser history and the ads that are displayed. I have an almost constant ad off to the side about "edge" products which are vehicle parts. I haven't ever researched anything that relates to vehicle products either directly or implied. So I have no idea where that would come from if they are basing it on browsing history. Also there is another ad about American express platinum card. Again there is no history on this computer that has anything to do with credit cards, American Express or any other kind. So I am a bit skeptical of the statements about any of this being based on sites visited or even a rough pattern of site history.

I just had to have Time Warner reboot my modem. It's been screwed up since last night. So, I just got access to the internet. I'm Ba-a-a-a-ck

Being a favorite American pastime, it could apply to anything anyone needs to feel offended by.

You mean chicken, pork, and beef does not come from the garden in those Styrofoam packages with cellophane? Huh! ..... How about that.

Yes, obviously, I have bought my own land and enjoy being a landowner. But I will not be offering up the Pollyanna view saying that it is nothing but positives. All I can say is look at all sides of land-ownership, and do pay attention to all those that have a few words of warning to add to your decision. You already know all the "positives". You have been concentrating on those while you have been considering buying. But to make a proper decision, understand that there are some concerns that should be factored into your decision.

Before everyone gets too excited and bent out of shape about this, do we have any credible independent confirmation of the story?

Lol .... I am of the opinion that one of America's most popular pastimes today is being offended. We just sit around and think of as many things as possible that we can claim offense at, and for some reason that brings joy. Most likely a result of not having enough useful things to do.

I agree that self limiting is the right and correct procedure. Of course on a large scale, across the hunter population, that is not really very likely. If that mentality could be made to happen, we probably would not need any game laws at all. It is the rules and regulations that set the tone and guide the activities and mentality of the general hunter population. But the larger observation that I was talking about was the constant mindset of the DEC that seems to be solely focused on only regulations that are not aimed at the general purpose of management, but instead is fixated on herd reduction only. As I mentioned above there has only been one reg change that results in harvest limitation, and that is AR which was forced onto the DEC. Other than that, every move has been geared toward herd reduction only without regard to when and where reduction is necessary. Is that management, or just a constant capitulation to public pressures?

And by the way, before I divert this thread too far and too quick from the original theme, I too want to congratulate Mike for offering up a well constructed argument in his posts that the anti's were unsuccessful in making any plausible anti-hunting use. In spite of their attempts at malicious quoting, they did indeed shoot themselves in the foot by trying to use quotes that used facts and not emotions and just didn't spin well for them. In fact reading their article as a person who really is not all that involved with the issue, I came away with the opinion that it was Mike who held the higher ground on all of this and appeared to be the voice of reason in an article that otherwise simply sounded like emotional, mindless ranting by fanatical lunatics.

I do believe that that can be done without exaggerated statements that generalize hunters or hunters that use certain weapons or methods as being slob hunters, poachers, and a scourge to all wildlife, all of which I have seen on these pages far too often. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in heated debate that certain unfair, and inaccurate and unsubstantiated exaggerations occur that really have no real purpose, and can have damaging impacts when lifted out as quotes from hunters.

Perhaps she mistook the bird for an assault falcon because of the evil looking face and the deadly talons. Seems she might have learned a few things from our government such as if it looks evil, it should be gotten rid of.

Lol ...but they will not keep selling to me. I am feeling very foolish for buying as many of these things as I have and accepting, like many, the crap they are peddling. Yeah, I like the trail cam idea too, but eventually, you have to begin to feel like a fool, when you realize the reliability and durability shortfalls of the garbage they are selling.

No, I am not in the business of endorsing any brand, I am simply pointing out that there is no inherent reason that trail cams cannot be made reliable, and affordable. And I know that because I have lucked out and found a couple. And I have a few (damned few) that show that just because they are used outdoors in a hostile environment does not mean that we have to be satisfied with inferior design. So people can make excuses for poor design all they want, but I'm not accepting any of that. A word about "service". Yes companies should stand behind their products. But no one should make their claim to fame out of, " Oh yes our products are crap, but our service is great ..... until you get sick of returning them".

Am I the only one who has noticed that every move that the DEC has made for the last several decades has been aimed at new efforts to cut deer populations more efficiently and completely. As far as I can recall, AR in a very few limited areas is the first and only regulation that has actually resulted in a restriction on deer takes. And that was entered into only after they were politically forced into it. I believe they are panicked a bit and not really all that sure that they will always have the hunter participation to effectively control deer numbers at some time in the future. And so they are wracking their brain trying to come up with new way of making hunting more efficient towards whacking on deer numbers. The only problem I have with all these anti-deer regulation changes is that they are mostly state-wide regs that do not take local habitat or existing populations into consideration. They are all kind of arbitrary, one-size-fits-all regulations that are merely aimed at eliminating deer, not managing deer.

Certainly cannot disagree that confirmed anti-hunters will never be changed. However, in my mind, there is something wrong with supplying them with hunter quotes with which they can gather new recruits and convince those on the fence that we are a scourge on the land. I guess I have a natural aversion towards supplying my enemies with ammo. And ammo is exactly the way I view anti-hunter comments coming from within our own ranks and made public.

That's understandable .... lol. You should have heard the ridicule last time I told my wife I was going to buy another trail-cam. She had already heard all the hard-luck stories regarding the cameras that stopped working. I have to admit that I am starting to feel a bit exploited....lol.

I still can't accept products that do not reliably do what they are advertising that they do, but then that's just me. And I do not determine value and expectations based on history of products that have since gone extinct .... lol. Each current expenditure is competing with other current technologies and I fully expect improvements with each generation in terms of cost and quality and longevity. I do have a Cuddeback white-flash that is into it's third year and still going strong. This is actually the 2nd Cuddeback that I have owned, but the first one was stolen before it's 2nd year had concluded, but was taking great pics up to that point (through all the same rigors of weather extremes that these others cameras crapped out in). That tells me that there is nothing inherently impossible in terms of today's trail cam technology. These two cameras and one of my Bushnell's lived up to their advertising claims as I should be able to expect. No excuses accepted!

How about you pack it with some nice fresh runny dog-crap and hang it on some busy state land tree for one of these scum-bag thieves to take home with them. I had a $200 Cuddeback stolen. The filthy slime-balls cut the strap and took off with it. There is no retaliation that is too extreme for somebody that would even think about stealing from a fellow hunter like that.

Sorry, I really can't (or won't) make excuses for products that are advertised for use in all extremes of weather, and then don't live up to that expectation. If they are not weather-proof, then they shouldn't be advertised as being used in the outdoors. I know that people look at $100 or $200 as mere change these days, but I don't. And when I spend that kind of money, I expect that the product purchased will perform as stated. It's a shame that industry has beaten us down to the point where our expectations of products is so low.